The Price of Playing
by Takushi Rena
Summary: Two months ago, the Reaper's Game ended when Neku returned to the RG with his friends. However, he found himself greeted by a very discontent Joshua as a new game began, this game being much more dangerous than the last.
1. Prince: Day Zero

The thud of the train slamming against the train. The chattering, the laughter of those standing aimlessly around the dog-like statue. The footsteps and stomps against the white-striped concrete.

The boy breathed a sigh, his indigo orbs taking a quick glance at the pristine, powder blue sky. He spotted the crowds of people standing at the crossing. Smiling, laughing. No longer were the orchestrated sounds just a noise. He didn't clench his headphones, shoving them against his ears, in a futile attempt to drown out the _noise_.

No longer apathetic. No longer indifferent. He shared that same happiness, a reason to create that same obnoxious noise he once ignored: he now had _friends_.

_Do-doo-do-doooo-do._

That ringtone, however, was pretty much noise. Simplified, second-rate noise.

_Do-doo-do-doooo-do._

The boy rummaged around his oversized, khaki pocket. He fumbled with his purple flip phone upon grabbing it, trying to pry it open before it started singing the next notes of that really bad ringtone. He didn't really look to see who was calling; he wouldn't be able to tell, anyways, as the screen was cracked and foggy.

"...Yeah?" he questioned casually.

"_Neku! Where are you?_"

"Uhh... Scramble crossing. Why?"

"_Oh, good! Can you meet me at Ten-Four?_"

Neku rolled his eyes. If Shiki was calling him and asking him to go to 104, this obviously meant shopping. That probably meant being tormented by hours of boredom in return for Shiki's delight: thousands of 'does this look good?', many girlish squeals, and she'd probably shove a neatly folded pile of clothes at him, basically telling him that his outfit sucked. He could've easily gone off and done something else; after all, he could've been bold enough to play Tin Pin Slammer. (Unlikely, _but..._)

The orange-haired boy only smiled.

"Sure."

"_Great! See ya there!_" She certainly sounded happy.

Neku flipped the phone shut and shoved it back his pocket; he was getting the hang of closing a phone with one hand. He took his steps towards the 104 building, which eyed him off in the distance. Knowing Shiki, she would've taken a while to get there. But she probably would've been running by the time she got there, feeling bad for making Neku wait but anxious to see what new clothes awaited beyond the pristine, metallic walls of the gargantuan shop.

He watched the concrete, fumbling aimlessly with the mp3 player hanging around his neck. He had every intention to head off to 104, probably sneaking off over to Dogenzaka beforehand. The rhythmic beats of his footsteps, and all of those around him, played an orchestration of music as he headed through the street.

_Thump, thump, thump, thump_.

He nodded his head, subconsciously placed his hand next to his ear as if he were wearing his headphones.

_Thump, thump, thump, thump._

It wasn't a noisy beat.

_Thump, thump, thump, thump._

He found that, instead of being noise, it blended. Shaping into a simple beat.

_Thump, thump, thump, thump._

Something simple...

_Thump, thump, thump, thump._

Something _so_ simple...

_Thump, thump, thump, th--_

His part of the chorus slammed to a stop. His indigo orbs had glanced up, only to spot something. A single thing that disrupted the beat, throwing it into disarray.

A scowl was plastered on his pale features. Arms folded. His violet orbs expressing discontent. Brow furrowed. Even his grey, wavy locks managed to prove that he was, indeed, not at all 'happy'.

_I can't forgive you, but I _trust_ you._

"Neku." his snooty voice snarled. "_We_ have a problem..."

It was two months since Neku last saw Joshua. Right at that moment, the orange-haired boy immediately started cursing.

**THE price OF playing ; day zero (prince)**

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**A/N:** 'Ello Subasekai fic! This is actually the prologue for a fanproject-ish thingy that I'm starting. It's a story that follows the canon characters while also following a group of original characters. Though I would rather post both stories up together, I will post each side of the story separately, so that whomever wants to only follow the canon characters will only follow the canon characters while anybody who's more interested in the OCs can follow the OCs. I dunno how well that'll work, though, but meh.

The basis of this (not the plot, actually...) is that there is going to be others' OCs that show up. This is still the fanproject that I started a couple of months ago but didn't get very far with and that basic point is still going to remain the same. If you would like your OC to take part in this, please leave a review and ask about it. I can give you a link about everything involving this little project.

That's about it! I hope you enjoy the story!


	2. Player: The First Day Pt 1

**A/N:** Wowzers, thank you guys for the support on the first chapter! I reallyreallyreally appreciate it. =D I'll try my best to update as often as I can, but I haven't done much planning on the story yet; I've got character designs 'n such to finish as I write the chapters.

This chapter starts the original character side of the story. Because this was getting long enough, I'm going to finish the rest later. (i put in way too many details hahaha xD;) After those chapters, Neku and Josh's story'll continue! But, for now, I hope you enjoy this part.

Also, one last note: because it's set in _Japan_, last names are first and first names are last. Last names aren't used that much, though, and I've made sure that the characters state what their actual name is. And one character also talks in some Japanese. This isn't permanent, but this is a key part in an odd little way. You'll find out why they do that in a later chapter, though it won't be 100 percent specific most likely.

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**PLAYER; THE FIRST DAY**

A stab without blood. Only the slam against concrete. Only a shadow smiling maliciously with his twin. Only a silver haze...

Eyes creaked open, struggling. Fingers, hands numb. Everything was muffled. Everything was fuzzy. Everything was dull.

"Nngh..."

Her fingers twitched, aching to feel the ground against them. Feeling rushed in as her fingers brushed lightly against the black, hot concrete. Scorching. Burning. Torrid, sun-heated concrete. She didn't dare move.

Sound rushed back into her ears, slowly but surely. The clicks, the thuds, the beats. Voices, laughter. Sounds, music.

She could hear, she could feel. But her vision was still blurry. She struggled to sit up, to stand. Her legs numb, itching for feeling. Itching to move forth through the street.

Drowsily, arms hanging aimlessly, the girl placed the soles of her grey-brown shoes against the white-stripped concrete. She cringed, placing a palm against her eye, the opposite orb covered by two thick chunks of brunette hair. Headache.

She felt dizzy, sick. Half-conscious...

What was going on? She placed her hands behind her sides and stared around. Blink after blink, her eyes flickered open then closed; in hopes to subside the blurriness.

"Ugh-- Whoa!"

Her sky blue orbs snapped open. Widened. She stared around wildly. No more blurry vision.

Her heart pounded.

_Bum-bump._

She stared in horror. It was like a tidal wave.

_Bum-bump._

The light was green. A signal to let them come forwards. A very bad signal when you're standing in the middle of the Scramble Crossing.

The brunette helplessly threw her hands over her head as she was sucked into the river. Businessmen in their suits, teens in their school uniforms, people in outrageous clothing with bright colours. It was as if a dam had opened, letting the water rush out aimlessly.

The girl felt suffocated. Struggling. Trying to escape. Pushing against people in every direction. Being pulled along in the flow. Unable to escape.

She choked. An elbow in her side. A briefcase swung aimlessly against her. Someone's puffy hair kept on getting in her face.

"_S-Sumimasen!_" she exclaimed in Japanese. She tried to push through the crowd, finding no avail in doing so. They didn't notice the girl. Never a single acknowledgment.

"S-Sorry..." Still no acknowledgment.

Desperately, she reached a hand out of the crowd. Gasping for air. Aching for escape.

At last, she found the shore. Escape from the wrath of the ocean. _The sidewalk_.

Frantic, she stumbled onto the tan concrete, at last free from the stuffy air and the claustrophobic crowd. No longer suffocating. No longer horrified.

The girl stared around at the surroundings. It was the Scramble Crossing, that was for sure. It was so full of people... She felt nervous. She wove her fingers together and hung her arms in front of her, glancing around. It was certain that she was trying very hard to look small. To recede.

Thank goodness no one noticed her. They dealt with their own things, from getting to another destination to talking on the phone.

But, it was odd. It was odd to _not_ be noticed. No one's eyes aimlessly drifted onto her, studying the girl as they walked by. No one paid attention. No one noticed. Not a single person.

A normal person might've tried to tap someone on the shoulder to get someone's attention. Maybe even wave their hand in front of someone's face. What did this girl do?

She grabbed her crimson red DS off of her belt and flipped it open. Expertly, she turned on the game machine on and used her finger to navigate through the screen.

Her sky blue orbs grew wide. Panic. Anxiety. She felt dread. Fear curling its icy fingers around her throat.

There was no signal.

She _always_ had a signal inside of Shibuya, especially at the Scramble Crossing! Panic consumed the poor girl. What was going on?

_Do-do-doooo. Do-do-do-do-DO-DO-DO-DO._

A muffled song sang harmoniously in her pocket.

_Do-do-doooo. Do-do-do-do-DO-DO-DO-DO._

She stared at pocket on her khaki shorts in confusion. What was that noise?

_Do-do-doooo. Do-do-do-do-DO-DO-DO-DO._

She rummaged through her pocket, trying to figure out what the noise was.

_Do-do-doooo. Do-do-do-do-DO-DO-DO-DO._

She felt buzzing, something coming from a small, blue device with a screen on it. She held it up, staring at it curiously.

_it opened up without an indication._

As soon as the voice started singing, she immediately threw her hand over the device in a panic. Eyes wide, face turning a light shade of red.

_i thought i wandered there without a reason._

What was she supposed to do with this thing? It was _singing_! She had no clue what it was, even...

_don't look back on the facts. there ain't no answer._

She removed her hand, seeing that no one paid attention, and studied the device. It looked like it was folded in half. What would happen if she opened it? Would the singing and the music stop?

_i push myself onward without hesitation._

She assumed so.

At last, the tomboy flipped open the device. The music stopped, much to her relief, and she stared at the screen.

"Umm..."

She squinted her eyes, finding some sort of message on the bright screen. Oh. She realized what this device was. It was a cell phone! She had heard of them and everyone in Shibuya seemed to have had one all the time; after all, half of the people at the crossing were _on_ their phone. Yet, the girl never had actually had one...

And the message on the screen must've been a text message! She felt a rush of excitement. Text messages were good, right? People seemed so happy when they got them.

_Greetings, Player._

_Your mission is to get to 104. You have 30 minutes. Failure will result in erasure. If you wish to escape from this place, I suggest making haste._

She felt gypped. That message didn't make her happy at all. It didn't seem very good, either.

"Nngh!"

A cringe. A jolt. The phone felt aimlessly to the ground with a clunk. The tomboy clenched her fist, driving her nails into her pale skin.

A stab. Abrupt. Scorching. Harsh. She hissed in pain.

After a moment had subsided, she took a chance to cautiously open her hand. Raised to eye-level, where she stared at the sight.

_29:59... 29:58..._

Sky blue eyes wide. Her heart pounded.

What was that thing? A timer? Red letters counted down to 30 minutes. It almost looked like the numbers were written in _blood_. Dry, crusty blood.

_You have 30 minutes. Failure will result in erasure._

All of a sudden, she didn't like text messages very much. She slowly scooped the phone off of the ground, shoving it in her pocket; she acted like she didn't want to touch the thing at all.

So, all she had to do was get to 104? Easy enough. She didn't get why. Maybe it was like one of those chain letters, but she didn't want to see what happened when the timer disappeared. Did chain letters always have weird timers on them or something?

"Nngh!"

A slam. She felt her back skid against the ground; against the abrasive concrete. A rush of heat. A torrid burst.

"Ah..."

A thick line down her back. Deep, rough, burnt. She hissed in pain; struggling to sit up.

Somehow, she couldn't even manage to. She couldn't even move a muscle. No, she didn't _dare_ move, nor blink. Only her heart pounding in her chest. As her pupils stared up at the grey wolf pressing its paws against her shoulders. One of those paws was something odd; almost like graffiti... It was _snarling_.

Since when were there wolves in Shibuya? She stared in horror at this creature. What was it going to do? Bite her neck? No, only vampires did that...

Maybe it was going to bite off her nose. After all, it had started sniffing her nose. She froze, feeling the hot breath brush against her in bursts. It retaliated, golden orbs studying its prey.

It licked its lips. Showing those pearly canines.

_Yeah_. She tightly closed her eyes. Bracing herself. It was going to rip her nose off. Maybe something worse.

She couldn't help but wonder, though. If there were hundreds of people walking around the Scramble Crossing, why wasn't anyone doing anything?

It didn't matter. She couldn't do a thing to get away from this creature. She was pinned down! She only braced herself...

"Foul beast!"

Her eyes snapped open. She stared in disbelief. Was that... _fire_? Was that _blue_ fire?

The tomboy scrambled up to her feet after finding the wolf off to the side. It panted, a nice burn mark plastered on its side. It sniffed the air once more, staring over at the tomboy for just a moment.

It ran. But it didn't act scared... It simply ran away.

Hesitantly, she glanced off to the side where she had heard the voice come from. There. She saw him.

A pale boy with blue-purple locks, black roots and unkempt spikes, messy bangs covering over his grey orbs. An almost skin-tight black t-shirt with a strange blue tribal-esque design on the sleeve, a red turtleneck t-shirt under his shirt, baggy grey pants, white and red sneakers. She also spotted a black sports watch around his wrist and several pins on his shirt. He must've been at least fifteen.

He casually tossed a blue and red badge, a pin, over his palm.

"You okay?" the teenaged voice slipped out into the air. He kept his eyes set on the concrete as he pocketed the pin. He seemed to pay more attention to the concrete.

The girl looked taken aback. Someone actually _noticed_ her?

She said nothing. Only gave a nod.

He obviously noticed this. "Good."

"Ahh..." That was all the girl could managed to spit out. She couldn't manage to say another word, or any word at all. She reached out her hand subconsciously, watching him.

"_Ma...tte..."_

She tried to keep up with the boy. He walked briskly down the sidewalk, hasty as if trying to get somewhere quickly.

"_Matte_." she said quietly, timidly. The tomboy picked up her pace.

He rudely pushed through the crowds. His grey orbs searched around frantically. No one seemed to notice him.

She waded through the crowds, careful not to push or bump into anyone. Her sky blue orbs scanned around, searching for that indigo-haired boy. She had to find him! He saved her from that wolf; that _monster_. But she couldn't thank him before he ran off.

And he was still running off. He almost acted like he was searching for something. What was he looking for?

The tomboy saw that he had stopped at the edge of the sidewalk. Grey orbs searching through the crowds.

"...Hey." Timid, muttered. She cautiously stepped behind him, acting as if she were trying to walk cautiously up to an animal.

Before he could even think about running off, she took the chance. She didn't want him to run off! But it seemed so rude. Still...

"_Hey_." She reached out for his hand. Her fingers curled around his palm. Slowly and cautiously. She grasped his hand.

His eyes grew wide. Disbelief. _Anger_.

The girl smiled, glancing up at the boy before quickly looking away. "Thank... yo--"

"No!"

A chill rushed down her spine. Something quite _bizarre_ occurred. Something not the least bit normal...

_SHING!_

He could see a light blue glow around both of them. He found that it was the brightest around where this _girl_ grabbed his hand. The aura broke off in pieces, floating into the air. It begun to disappear, leaving only an angry boy staring down at a surprised girl. When it finally went away...

"...You _idiot!_" the boy snapped. A ferocious glare. He bared his teeth, showing a fierce anger. He harshly snapped his hand out of the girl's grasp and pulled away, taking an abrupt step back.

The girl did the same, though not out of anger. She just looked taken aback. In awe.

"Why did you do that!?"

She said nothing. She glanced up at him and threw her hands behind her back upon jerking her gaze away.

"S-Sorry..." was her timid, quiet reply.

Obviously, that wasn't good enough for the boy.

Brow furrowed harshly, his red and white sneakers slammed against the ground. His hand snapped forwards.

The girl froze. His fist curled around her red t-shirt collar. She was no longer standing on solid ground.

"_Why_ did you do that?" the boy queried once more. He had pulled the short girl off of the ground. They were eye-to-eye, nose-to-nose.

The tomboy gulped. "I-I'm sorry..." Eyes wide, staring at him. They were filled with panic. "...I-I just... wanted to thank you..."

"Then why did you make a pact with me!?" You could see the anger in his eyes. How fierce it was. Like an uncontrollable flame. She could've sworn that she saw light grey flames licking his pupils.

She said nothing. Just shook. Just stared. Panic. Heart pounding, arms hanging aimlessly by her sides.

Why didn't anyone stop him? Why didn't anyone notice?

"Nngh!"

He relinquished his grasp on her, seeming to _throw_ the girl onto the ground. Obviously, she was too scared to tell him anything. A sign of being weak; _too_ weak.

"...Another partner." he mused, his anger beginning to subside. "I'll find a better partner. Better than a weak little brat like _her_."

She watched him turn away. He was contemplating on walking off. She was sprawled out on the sidewalk. She felt abandoned. She felt like she had just been slapped in the face.

Whatever this 'partner' thing was, obviously she wasn't a good one. She didn't even have a clue what it was, but she felt very hurt. Especially since he called her _weak_. Partners didn't seem like a very good thing.

The boy gave a sigh. He mused to himself, talking about 'Hachiko' and some other places around Shibuya. He set his grey orbs back on the girl, who sat aimlessly on the ground. The boy felt a buzz in his pocket and immediately turned his attention to the beeping phone.

She sat up and hugged her knees, staring off to the side. She watched him out of the corner of her eyes.

A moment passed.

"...Ergh!" he exclaimed out of frustration. His voice became rather apathetic, muttering to himself. He flipped the phone shut. "I can't get another partner. _Dammit_. I can't just walk from 'em either... I'll be Noise meat."

Hesitantly, he walked back over to the girl, who had stood up and pulled out a crimson DS. Something he always saw kids playing with... He hovered over the girl, studying her for a moment.

Messy brown hair, with bright blue roots and tips, that was spiked and completely covered one of her sky blue eyes. A navy blue vest with an oversized hood, a sleeveless red shirt, long khaki shorts, and grey-brown shoes that looked almost like combat boots. She had two wristbands, a blue one around her upper arm and a purple one around her wrist, and a brown belt. Oddly enough, there was also a small black tattoo that looked like a curved line under her only visible eye...

"...What's your name?" he questioned, looking down at her apathetically. All he could seem to think about her was that she was really short, looked like a little kid, and looked incredibly weak.

She froze, hesitantly glancing up at him.

"...Fu..." she gulped. "...Fushoku... Kusari..."

"Kusari," he mused. "I'm Shodouken Hisoka."

She paused for a moment, staring at him blankly. Kusari smiled.

"_Hajimemashite,_ Hisoka-san."

"Nice to meet you, too, Kusari."


End file.
